With the Treaty of Union of 1707, many of the functions of government in Scotland began to be exercised from London. At all times, the Treasury in London kept a close rein on the expenditure, staffing and working practices of the various revenue boards in Scotland. There were Scottish secretaries of state from 1707 to early 1709.
Thereafter, a succession of so-called Third British Secretaries with responsibility for Scotland held office from 1709 to 1711, 1713 to 1715, 1716 to 1725 and again from 1742 to 1746. The office lapsed on the last holder's resignation at the time of the Jacobite rebellion.
In the years from 1707 to 1886, the routine administration of government authority in matters of Scottish law and public order, church business, and judicial appointments was successively exercised through the Southern, later the Northern and finally, from 1782, the Home Department. It was these departments that oversaw the struggle against the Jacobites and, later, the radical reformers. The records of these departments are held at the Public Record Office. The NRS has a full set of copies of the Scottish papers, however (NRS reference RH2/4). In practice, while they received much of the correspondence on public matters, the real power was exercised by a succession of Scots politicians, or 'managers', men who were secretaries of state in all but name. The Earl of Ilay, later the 3rd Duke of Argyll was pre-eminent in Scottish politics from 1725 until 1742 and again from 1746 until 1761.
From 1761 to 1765 James Stuart Mackenzie 'managed' Scotland for the Earl of Bute and, after a gap, Henry Dundas and his son Robert dominated Scottish public affairs from 1782 until 1827. In the years after 1827, the operations of Scottish executive government were much more tightly directed from London. In particular the various revenue boards lost almost all of the nominal autonomy that they had had since 1707 to the Treasury and other UK bodies. The general lead in Scottish public affairs fell to the Lord Advocate. However, there was always some degree of administrative decentralisation. Other functions were exercised by various boards. Separate Scottish boards for Customs and Excise existed during the 18th century, and other bodies were established subsequently, including:
The Board of Manufactures (1727)
The Trustees made grants available for the improvement and encouragement of fishery and manufactures and particularly the linen industry. After the regulation of the linen industry was abolished in 1823, the board turned its funds to other purposes: the decorative arts and the encouragement of education in the fine arts. In 1906 its functions were transferred to the Trustees for the National Galleries under the National Galleries of Scotland Act. The records of the Board (NRS reference NG1) cover the period 1727-1911 and include minutes, letter books, reports, accounts, salaries and cashbooks.
Fishery Board (1809)
In 1808, the passing of the Herring Fishery (Scotland) Act increased the number of trustees on the Board of Manufactures to 28 and turned seven of them into a separate Fishery Board. The Trustees supervised the fishing industry in Scotland from 1809 to 1939. Its functions included: Crown brand for cured herring; maintenance of a protection fleet; fishery harbours; salmon fisheries and scientific investigation.
Board of Supervision for Relief of the Poor (1845)
The Local Government Board for Scotland replaced the Board of Supervision in 1894.
